Servitude of a Peculiar Sort
by Ghostwheel
Summary: Harry wanders the forest after Dumbledore's funeral so that he can think. But instead of a solution to his problems, he finds a Dryad who ensnares his mind and uses him as her servant. Full Summary inside.
1. Chapter 1

_Summary: _Harry wanders the forest after Dumbledore's funeral so that he can think. But instead of a solution to his problems, he finds a Dryad who ensnares his mind and uses him as her servant. But what if in exchange for his servitude, she will teach Harry "the power he knows not?"

_Disclaimer: _I do not own Harry Potter, or any of the other characters contained herein. I am not selling the stories I write and am not gaining or losing any money from their continued existence. In addition to the previous statement, I am a broke-ass, mostly jobless college student with nothing worth suing for anyway. I further disclaim that this story will not contain any H/G, (save mentioning the break-up from canon) H/Hr, Slash (or Yaoi), relationships where one character is old enough to be a parent of the other, (exceptions: are things that don't age at a normal rate. Vampires, angels, gods, immortals, ancient magical beings etc.) incest, sex with animals, (magical or non) or anything else I feel like banning for an arbitrary reason. If you don't like it: tell me why in the form of a flame, or leave. "You are a shitty writer" isn't remotely helpful so enlighten me so that my fics are just that much less terrible. Thank you for your co-operation.

Ghostwheel

**Servitude of a Peculiar Sort**

Chapter One: Revelations

Harry Potter had a wonderful final afternoon with Ron and Hermione on the last day of his sixth year at Hogwarts. Considering the circumstances (Dumbledore's death, breaking up with Ginny, etc.) the good did its best to outweigh the bad.

Together, the trio talked about their esteemed Headmaster, plotted about how they would act against Voldemort in the future, and finally sat down for several amusing games of exploding snap.

"I'm done with this rubbish!" Ron exclaimed in fake anger. "I want to play something I can actually win at!" The cards had exploded in his face in three of the last four games, singeing his recently regrown eyebrow.

"Not chess!" Harry responded. "I can't handle the emotional pain of watching my pieces get brutally murdered. Not today."

After some bickering, it was decided that Harry and Hermione would play chess against each other while Ron watched from under a silencing charm. It was getting close to a draw when Harry moved his bishop to defend his king and unwittingly put Hermione in Checkmate.

After dinner, the trio separated. Ron followed a handful of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs to the Quidditch pitch for a pick-up game (they were short a keeper). Hermione had a few books that she wanted to check out from the library for summer reading. Bored, and not really sure what to do about it, Harry followed Ron out to the pitch to watch the game. Even if he had his broom with him, he wouldn't have played. He simply wasn't in the mood.

Ron and the Hufflepuffs (and a single fourth-year Slytherin playing chaser. Harry didn't now his name) were beating the predominantly Ravenclaw team by a good fifty points when Ginny showed up at the other end of the pitch. Harry decided it was time to take a walk in whatever direction his feet would take him. The last thing he wanted was to talk with Ginny some more. He knew she would attempt to convince him to take her back. He wasn't sure he had the guts to turn her down for the second time in the same day.

Harry's feet seemed to be in the mood for a forested setting, and Harry didn't feel up to refusing them. So, he walked, and thought. Subconsciously, he turned in the exact opposite direction of the centaur part of the forest. He wasn't in the mood to deal with them right now.

Like every other time he was depressed, the first thing that came to mind was Sirius's demise last year. He replayed the scenario over and over in his head and looked pointlessly for something he could (or should) have done to save his Godfather. While he still accepted some of the blame for the incident, his friends' assurances had broken through to him over the year and the bulk of the guilt had been redistributed to Sirius (for being cocky), Bellatrix (for killing him), and Voldemort (the reason she was at the department in the first place).

His thoughts drifted in a darker direction, as he strayed farther from Hogwarts. He saw Cedric dying in a sudden flash of green light. Harry had revisited the scene a thousand times, and he found the same two things he always found that he could have done differently. The first was to have taken the cup when Cedric offered it. The second was for Harry to have let Sirius kill Wormtail in his third year like he should have. Both problems were caused by the same shortcoming.

_'This is a war.'_ he thought. _'There's no place for nice guys here.'_

At last, his mind came to Dumbledore. While his last name was but a single word, the accompanying thoughts made it feel more like a paragraph. The prophecy, and the fact that he hadn't been told until it was too late to prepare. The summer isolation at the Dursleys. The subtle manipulations all throughout the his years at Hogwarts (like the last minute points in first year that won them the House Cup. It was the reward given to his little first year puppet to let him know he was "doing the right thing." It had influenced his growth more than he had realized.). The training (if one could call it that) where he learned about Voldemort's history, and his secret weakness.

And yet, after all these wrongs he'd been dealt by his headmaster, he knew that he wanted to forgive the man. Especially after his death. He still harbored some anger and mistrust, but he knew that now was the time to let it go. He took a deep breath, and it was gone. The resentment, the anger, the frustration. He forgave his mentor and vowed to speak of nothing but the good things he remembered of him henceforth.

A stick snapped under Harry's sneaker, breaking him away from his thoughts. It was now dark, or he assumed it was. The sun was impossible to locate through the dense canopy. He had been wandering aimlessly for at least two hours, according to his watch. There were no signs to mark which way the school was in any direction. He was in a completely unfamiliar area of the forest without even the barest of survival materials. He was lost.

In the process of looking about for a landmark, Harry also lost track of which direction he'd come from. Harry kept his cool though. He wasn't particularly daunted by the task of finding his way back to the castle. Actually, he thought of it as a bit of an adventure. With Aragog dead, and Grawp getting more civilized by the day, he felt he could handle most anything he found in the forest. He had intentionally turned in the opposite direction of the centaurs, and had walked in a generally straight line, he suspected that he shouldn't be anywhere near centaur territory.

Since threats were a minimum, he felt the only real danger was getting lost. Between Hogsmeade, the tracks for the Hogwarts Express, Hogwarts itself, Hogsmeade station and the lake, he reckoned that he would find a landmark in roughly half of the directions he went.

So, he made a decision._ 'If I haven't found my way back by ten-thirty, I'll use a point-me spell and head back. It's not like I'm tired or anything.' _he thought. His watch said it was eight twenty-three. Harry picked a direction, and started walking.

The forest was alive with regular summertime noise. Bugs chirping, owls hooting and bushes rusting. It was quite peaceful, and Harry enjoyed seeing areas of the forest he'd never seen before. The thrill of being out of bounds, after curfew in an area known to be dangerous was exactly what Harry needed after Dumbledore's death. The adrenaline banished his depression, and for the first time in weeks, he was able to think without the influence of the dark events of the last three years.

He came to grips with his inevitable destiny and with cool, calculated thought he planned out what he needed to do this summer in order to vanquish Voldemort.

He would have to do research while he stayed at the Dursleys until his Birthday. He suspected the twins would be willing to get him some books from Knockturn Alley if he asked nicely.

After his birthday, he would need to become mobile. Taking the Apparation test at the Ministry and possibly making up with Scrimgeour. He may not like the man, but he wasn't a Death Eater, and he would need support eventually.

He'd also have to pass the DA off to someone els-

'_What the hell?'_ Harry thought. Something didn't feel right. It didn't take him long to place what the change was.

The forest was silent. Not a sound from anywhere. He also knew he felt the temperature rise a few degrees. Cautious, yet curious, he took a few steps forward.

He felt a tingle of magic run down his spine. It was not unlike the feeling of when he stepped through the barrier at King's Cross station. It was closer to what he'd felt when he'd been given the address to Grimmauld place and was welcomed by the Fidelius charm.

Regardless, the brief tingle he'd felt was the last thing that concerned him at the moment. By stepping through that "magic barrier", he'd activated some sort of spell. The forest behind him was simply gone. It wasn't like it had vanished (he could see it quite clearly). It was closer to the sudden awareness that that way was dead to him now. He knew on some level that he could no more walk through that barrier than he could walk through a steel wall. He overcame the fear he had of the magic and whatever it had done with logic. He was in a magical forest. It only made sense that there would be magical places within the forest. There was nothing that said that this magic was hostile. With those thoughts, he began to admire the scenery.

In front of him stood the most enormous tree he'd ever seen in his entire life. It was at least a hundred feet tall, and as big around as the American giant redwoods he'd seen in pictures. He suspected that without the spells surrounding this area, that he'd be able to see it from Hogwarts.

The tree was an oak, as he could tell by the leaves and it sat in the center of the grove, which was more of a grassy clearing than anything. The grass was a deep green, and just tall enough for the strands to start slumping over from their own weight. There was a rock jutting up from the ground. Water trickled out of the rock and ran down it into a pool at its base. The pool was about as big around as the prefect's bathtub, but the water was about ten feet deep. The water was clearer than glass, and he could see the soft clay at the very bottom. A root from the great oak stuck through the wall of the pool near the bottom. Harry imagined it took a large amount of water to supply a tree of this size.

The hair on the back of Harry's neck stood on end. Not out of fright, but for a much more...sensual reason. Someone was whispering into his ear. A woman, he knew from the tone. Harry could feel her lips just inches from his ear and neck as she spoke. "_Welcome to my grove, traveler._" the voice said. Harry could feel her breath on his neck, but when he looked, nothing was there. Harry looked about the grove frantically, trying to find the voice's source. She laughed, and it soothed him like phoenix song but without the bit that made him feel happy even if he was not. Instead, it made him feel vaguely sleepy. It was as if her laughter was a calming draught and a dreamless sleep potion rolled into one.

"_Rest, traveler and drink of my fountain if you so desire. I will greet you properly in the morning."_

And who could argue with such a voice? Harry leaned down gratefully and sipped of the icy cold water from the pool. He felt as if his troubles were being lifted away. Without a doubt in his mind, he brought himself to the soft moss at the base of the tree. He removed his shoes and used his cloak as a blanket. He was asleep as soon as he shut his eyes.

_Author's note:_ Just under 2,000 words. Not bad for a start. I think I have something going here. What do you guys think?


	2. Chapter 2

Servitude of a Peculiar Sort

Chapter Two: Catriona

Harry's ear twitched, as if tickled with a feather. He wasn't sure if he was unable to open his eyes, or simply unwilling. The softness of his bed, the summer wind blowing in through the open window, the soft trickle of running water…

'_Water?'_ he thought. '_Why is there water in my dorm?'_ Harry's memory of the night before came back to him. It was followed quickly by guilt and panic. Guilt for falling asleep without contacting anyone or returning to the school when he should have. Panic because of how long it felt like he'd slept.

Harry's eyes shot up and he looked down at his watch. 12:34 pm. The train had left just over six hours ago.

He was stranded! He wondered if Hermione and Ron were worried about him. Had the Hogwarts staff formed a search party? Were they looking for him now? Maybe if he ran he could find one of them and get a Portkey or Floo Powder or something. Harry sprang to his feet and prepared to depart. He heard a faint giggle come from somewhere behind him that stopped him in his tracks. There was something compelling about the sound. It was like Veela charm or a whiff of Amortentia. He turned towards the sound, never once thinking of the consequences.

She was seated in the lowest branch of the grove's giant oak with her back against the tree's trunk. She was lacking anything even resembling clothing. Her skin was lightly tanned to the color of dried leaves and her hair was the vibrant green of springtime grass. Her hair reached down her back and stopped at the base of her spine. In a few places, there were small leaves and flowers growing out of the hair. Her eyes were green like his and eerily catlike. A slight smile covered her face, but not the kind of smile Harry felt he wanted to see. She looked…hungry.

"_Good morning, traveler." _She spoke to him. "_You rested well. You had many worries that needed easing."_

Harry felt his mouth run dry. She had turned slightly to face him and her hair had shifted. The green strands were no longer shielding his eyes from her nude form.

"_Oh."_ she said. "_Forgive me. I am Catriona, traveler. And you are?"_

There was something in her voice that made Harry feel she already knew his name and was just singling him out for unfair treatment. He doubted he could speak with his mouth so dry… but he managed to croak out "I'm Harry Potter."

"_Such a noble name."_ she swooned. "_Oh, but you must be thirsty! Drink, please."_

Harry wasn't certain if his body was following his command or hers as he bent down to the pool… and stopped. Something in his mind that he had been suppressing for the last few minutes was screaming at him. 'For the love of Merlin, don't drink it!' it yelled. Harry's head began to rise from the pool. He didn't really need a drink did he?

"_Not thirsty?" _Catriona asked. She shifted again causing her breasts to jiggle and send a new wave of dryness through Harry's throat. "_Then perhaps you would like to swim with me?"_

'No! No! No! No!' it yelled at him. 'This is a really bad idea. You need to be getting back to school.' Harry felt a bit of the old panic returning. They were probably worried (though he couldn't for the life of him remember who "they" were.)

Harry was about to mention something about returning to Hogwarts when another voice came to the forefront of his mind, urging him into the water. 'Come on, you're all hot and sweaty anyway and you've been wearing those clothes since yesterday.'

Harry settled on the sensible medium between the two forces clashing in his mind. "I haven't any swimming trunks. These are my only clothes."

She laughed, causing her chest to shake once more. She dropped from the branch to the ground with feline grace. "_Don't be silly, Harry. Why would you need swimming trunks?"_ she lowered her voice to a seductive whisper. "_You wouldn't be wearing them for long anyway."_

"I…" Harry managed. Harry was gathering up the last of his willpower for one final strike, so he could convince her that he needed to leave. The words were already gathering themselves in his mind. 'I'm really sorry' he planned to say. 'But all my friends are waiting for me at school. I'm running late. I really do want to stay but I can't.'

Catriona lowered herself into the water while Harry stood on the bank of the pool, thinking. She turned to face him, and then, she smiled. The carefully arranged words, the defiant look on his face, the feeling of urgently needing to be elsewhere... all of these things slipped away from Harry like water through a sieve. And yet, Harry didn't struggle to gather back the emotions or thoughts. They were lost to him. All that mattered was Catriona and her dazzling smile. Harry kicked off his shoes, and tossed aside his robe and t-shirt. The button went flying off his jeans but he made no effort to locate it. He dove into the cool, clear water wearing only his socks.

He surfaced and swam to Catriona, like an obedient puppy returning a ball to its master. She nodded approvingly at Harry, and he felt his heart swell with the praise. In a matter of seconds, The-Boy-Who-Lived had gone from being a defiant teenager to a lovesick schoolboy.

She closed the distance between them and embraced Harry. She met his eyes briefly, and kissed him lightly on the lips. Harry's eyes bulged and his body went tense, like a man struck by lightning. Then, his eyes closed, and he went limp.

She lifted Harry from the water and carried him to the mossy bed that he'd slept in the night before. She laid him down gently and removed a thorn from one of the plants growing amongst her hair. She drew the thorn lightly across Harry's hands. She made two cuts, one from the end of his thumb to the end of his smallest finger, and the other from the tip of his index finger to the base of his wrist. She repeated the process with her own hands and then tossed the bloody thorn aside. She placed one of his hands upon the trunk of the tree and it stayed there as if it had been glued. She laced the fingers of his other hand through her own hand, their blood mingling. She then placed her remaining free hand on the tree, completing a crude circle between Harry, Catriona and the great oak.

There was one last element the ritual of Harry's binding required. Catriona was already straddling Harry. She raised herself up, and lowered herself onto Harry's penis.

A jolt of energy raced up her spine, and the oak was crackling with static electricity. Grasses and flowers grew at a visible rate, and the moss Harry was laying on began to grow into his skin.

And then something... different happened. Catriona had captured dozens of men in her lifetime in this same manner. Every time, the ritual worked the exact same way: stunt the man's free will, bind it to her and her tree and make him love her with every fiber of his being. Every time, the ritual would have the mild electricity, and the plants would wrap the man in a cocoon. The next morning she would pull him free and he would serve her until the end of his days.

But never would the plants attempt to bind her too. Her legs were already held tight to the ground, and her hand had grown into the bark of the tree. Harry's eyes snapped open. He was in pain. The scar on his forehead was visibly convulsing. The scar split open like a Jack-o-Lantern in December and it bled a lot. The blood sizzled like oil in a frying pan and burned away. His scar was steaming and radiating very bright light. He was screaming. Until the plants grew over his mouth that is. The plants continued to grow, making her unable to see the light from his scar and the static electricity got louder. Catriona felt the hair on the back of her neck beginning to rise.

Then there was the pain. It felt like her blood had become liquid fire, burning her from the inside out. She howled in her agony until the vines and grasses grew over her head. The plants were taking away her air... and then everything was dark.

Something had gone terribly wrong.

A/n: Crap. My chapters seem to be getting shorter. I'll fix that next chapter. This one just didn't really have anywhere else to end it.


	3. Chapter 3

Servitude of a Peculiar Sort

Chapter Three: Explanations

**Hogwarts**

**6:32AM, June 2nd, 1996**

Hogwarts had been in a state of panic for two days straight. Headmistress McGonnagall had personally scoured every inch of the castle. Every Professor that could be found was busy looking for Harry Potter.

Ron went through Harry's trunk and got the Marauder's map. But of course, Harry wasn't on it. He informed Hermione who informed McGonnagall. She was forced to tell her about the map, but in a rare fit of goodness, the Headmistress didn't confiscate it.

When the train left without Harry, Minerva had been forced to contact the Ministry. Now, the school and grounds were buzzing with Aurors, photographers and Ministry officials.

Eventually, Minerva decided to cast a modified _point me_ charm. Her wand spun like a top before settling on a direction. Straight up. Then it started spinning again, like it had changed its mind. After an hour of her wand pointing off in seemingly random directions, she had to ask a nearby Auror to dispel it.

She tried sending Harry an owl with a tracking charm on it. The owl flew in circles for awhile before returning the letter.

Wherever Harry was, she was certain he didn't want to be found. Or... something else was hiding him.

**Catriona's Grove**

**11:15 AM, June 2nd 1996**

Harry awoke in darkness with a pounding headache. His muscles were all cramped and something was wrapped around him in such a way that he couldn't make any large movements.

With some creative wiggling, Harry managed to get his wand from his pocket. Wand movements of any type were impossible so Harry was forced to do without. It took him half a dozen tries to cast a cutting curse without the movements, and a dozen more before he actually managed to put a decent amount of power into it.

Harry could see sunlight on the other side of the grassy mess he was tangled in. He eventually sheathed his wand and started tearing away the grass by hand. After a few minutes of work, his legs were free. He tried to sit up and felt an unbelievable pain rush through him. It felt like he was ripping out chunks of his own flesh. To his credit, he managed not to scream. Needless to say, he didn't try to sit up again.

_'You're awake. Good-' _Harry cut her off.

"What the hell did you do to me?" Harry demanded. Even as he said the words, he regretted them. Something inside him made the words hurt him as they left his mouth. He didn't want to fight with her. "Sorry." he apologized.

"_It is fine. You are mine now. You may know these things."_ She smiled down at him from her seat on the lowest branch of the great oak. It made Harry feel like a recently praised house elf, and he couldn't help but beam back at her. _"I am a Dryad. I am bound to this place and this tree, just as you are now bound to me. Though I can release you from this place temporarily to do errands for me, but I digress. Last night, I performed the ritual that would bind you to me until the day of your passing. You would be my servant during the daytime, and would do my bidding in order to better preserve the grove and forest. During the night, our roles reverse and I am your servant in any capacity you desire."_ She sent him a mental image of some of the things she could do for him. Harry shivered in anticipation.

"_By being bonded with a male gives me additional powers and makes me far stronger than normal. This is compounded by you being a wizard. It has been a long time since I have had a wizard in my grove..."_ Catriona seemed to be unable to control herself when it came to Harry. Her mental pronunciation caused every word to have a second, more sexual meaning.

"_You also are granted powers for being my servant."_ Harry opened his mouth to ask about the powers but Catriona was already talking about them.

"_They're minor bits of forest magic. Plant and animal identification, knowing where to find food, purification of water... really simple useless things. Still, I suppose that for a human they may be helpful."_

"You mentioned a ritual... Was that the thing where the grass tried to eat me or was that a dream?"

A dark look passed over Catriona's face. _"I was getting to that."_ Catriona said, sounding slightly guilty and ashamed. _"Yes, that was the ritual you remember, but not how it was supposed to be. It was supposed to be sensual. The grasses wrapping you in their embrace, and in the morning I help you emerge. It was supposed to be a metamorphosis, not torture. It wasn't supposed to hurt you... If I had known.. then I would not have attempted the ritual."_

"Known what?" Harry asked, sensing that she hadn't only been talking about the pain.

"_That your soul was already linked with someone else's. You already belong to another. I tried to take something that was already spoken for, and our bond was corrupted because of it. It is because of this corruption that you are still stuck in the ground.."_

She continued to talk for several minutes, but Harry's mind went elsewhere. Voldemort owned his soul? The very thought of it made Harry feel like vomiting. Having a bond to him at such an intimate level was absolutely unthinkable for Harry. He couldn't accept it, and simply shoved it to the back of his mind.

"_...and so the forest is attempting to claim you to cleanse the corruption."_ she finished. _"I will attempt to convince the forest to release you, but as it is with all things, you cannot get something for nothing. I suspect I already know what it wants from you, but I have to know for sure. The question is: what are you willing to give up in order to be able to move again?"_

Harry thought for a moment before responding. "My life is just about worthless if I am unable to get up from where I am. Ask what they want, and I will tell you if I am willing to give it."

Catriona smirked. _"I suspected as much." _She turned her attention to the plants that had dug themselves into Harry's flesh. Then, she Spoke. Harry knew that this just wasn't a language. It was The Language. The bark of every dog, the rustle of every leaf and the roar of every lion could be heard in her voice as she Spoke the tongue from which all living things had come. It was the language of the forest, the language that man had forgotten a long time ago when they left the forests in favor of building villages, which eventually became cities. Hearing her speak that tongue made Harry feel as if he was hearing some piece of forbidden knowledge that mankind and wizardkind alike were prohibited from knowing after leaving the forests of old. Harry wanted to cover his ears, to shield them from the power in her words but curiosity kept him still. If he concentrated, he could almost make out what she was saying. Just as he thought he knew what she was saying, she stopped and waited for a reply.

The response nearly deafened him. It came from every tree, every flower, every predator and everything they hunted. Every instinct told him to run but he was held fast to the forest floor. It seemed that the entire forest was speaking as one unified entity and it wasn't pleased.

Catriona didn't even flinch. She released a torrent of Words in The Language that silenced the forest's outrage. Whatever she said must not have been pleasant. It seemed the entire forest was talking amongst itself. Catriona Spoke again and the forest quieted down until she finished.

The forest sounded much more civil when it responded this time. Its Words still held the same power as before, but it no longer held anger. Instead, it sounded almost...sly.

Catriona gave a brief response before switching to her own language. _"They have a deal for you."_ she said. _"You're not going to like it."_

Harry's face stayed blank. He didn't know what to say, so she continued her explanation.

"_The forest has claimed you. Its opinion is that by already having a soul bond when entering the bond with me, you were in breach of..."_ she stopped, obviously looking for the human equivalent of the word she wanted to use. She made a face, as if the word she was using was a very poor comparison. She continued on regardless. _"...contract. Therefore, the forest is allowed to intervene and only sees two options. The first is that it will leave you there and decompose you into your material components to nurture the forest. The large reservoir of magic your body contains would be exceptionally beneficial to it. The second option is that it re-binds you and allows you to go through a complete metamorphosis, turning you into its pawn. You will lose your free will and you will gain untold power. Your life will be tied to that of this forest. You will be protector of the forest in every way, but you could never leave. Your old life would be gone to you. At least you would be allowed to have me. You would simply lose everything else."_

Harry was distraught. Could he give up everything to save his own life? Could he give up Ron, Hermione and all of his other friends? Could he stand to never see Hogwarts again? More importantly, could he stand by and let everything he once loved die at the hands of Voldemort? Harry knew the answer was no. He knew that there had to be compromise. A third option would have to present itself. Or else, he would have to make one.

"You can tell the forest that its terms are unacceptable." Harry said with more conviction than he knew he had.

"_I can't. They decided to give you one full day to make your decision and will speak to you at this time tomorrow. And for your sake, I hope you know what you're doing." _

"Yeah. Me too." Harry replied, praying that his newfound backbone would last until the next day.

They lapsed into silence for awhile. Eventually, Catriona spoke.

"_You must have lead an interesting life to already have a soul bond at your age."_

"I suppose." Harry responded.

She left her perch on her tree's lowest branch and laid down next to him. "_Aren't you going to tell me about it?"_

Harry smiled at her, and started in on the story of his life.

**Hogwarts Kitchens**

**4:58PM, June 2nd, 1996**

Minerva fought back a yawn as she tickled the pear on the portrait that guarded the entrance to the kitchens of Hogwarts. The search for Harry had only gotten worse as the day had progressed. She had spoken with the Daily Prophet, dozens of concerned parents, every member of the school's board of governors and the Minister of Magic himself. She was exhausted and hungry. She'd only eaten a single apple that morning before the shit had hit the fan and she'd missed lunch.

The House Elves, the wonderfully helpful creatures they were immediately sensed her distress and brought her a comfortable leather-backed recliner from somewhere else in the castle. She collapsed in it gratefully.

"What can we's get for you's Headmissus?" a smiling elf inquired once she was seated.

"Pork chops, some of those divine spiced potatoes you make, a small bottle of brandy and a pint of Haagen Dazs. Cherry flavor." She replied. "Please." she added as an afterthought.

They all vanished with pops and went off to do her bidding. She leaned back into the recliner and felt some of her stress lifting away.

The elves popped back quickly, her food prepared in the exact way she'd asked. They'd even gathered some of the Muggle ice cream she'd requested. She ate as daintily as she could manage with a growling stomach, but it didn't last long. The pork chops and potatoes were gone very quickly and she made her way into the Haagen Dazs. After her second bite, something occurred to her that hadn't before.

"Dobby?" she asked in between bites.

"Yes Headmissus?" he replied helpfully.

"How did you know where to go and look for the ice cream? I doubt you had even seen any before in your entire life." Minerva inquired.

"House elves has to know where to find stuffs, Headmissus." Dobby answered. "Tis part of House Elf magic."

Minerva got an almost predatory look on her face. "Dobby... can you help me find Harry Potter?"

Dobby shook his head sadly. "Can't, Headmissus. Not in place Dobby can go. Dobby is sorry, Headmissus."

"Can you at least tell me where to find him?" She asked.

"Harry sir is in the green place, Headmissus."Dobby answered, pointing a shaking hand in one direction (north-east).

Minerva gave up for the time being and took a large swig of brandy. It was too late to start a new search tonight. And besides, the reporters couldn't come to the kitchens. Minerva kicked back the recliner and drank herself into a stupor.

**Catriona's Grove**

**6:10PM, June 2nd 1996**

"_So, you're saying that you have to kill this Voldemort person bonded to you or he has to kill you? There is no ground for compromise?"_

"None." Harry replied. "I have a feeling that the prophecy is what is causing me to defy the will of the Forest. I think the prophecy is making it impossible for them to win."

"_I hope you're right. Do you know how much pain you will cause me if you die so soon after the bonding?" _She shuddered. _"It's been five hundred years since the last time that happens to me and it still pains me."_

Their conversation came to an end and they sat in silence for several minutes.

"_It's almost dark."_

"I know." Harry responded, having temporarily forgotten the significance of her statement. Then: "Oh." which was followed by a sudden blush. She smiled at him.

"_Relax"_ she said. _"I'll do all the work."_

**Catriona's Grove**

**11:32 AM, June 3rd, 1996**

As was determined the day before, the forest assembled its collective minds at precisely twenty four hours after their first conversation.

This time, Catriona acted as a translator between the forest and Harry, instead of standing up for him personally. The forest rumbled and roared as it had in their last conversation, but the voice had lost its edge for Harry. It no longer made him cower or even flinch.

"_Have you reached a decision, Mortal?"_ Catriona relayed.

"Yes, I have." Harry replied. "And I regret to inform you that the specific nature of my previous soul bond makes your options unacceptable."

The very ground was shaking with the anger of the forest before Catriona had even finished his message.

"_Speak more of this other bond."_

"I was marked by my nemesis, Voldemort during he first year of my life. The spell he sent to kill me backfired, nearly killing him. Now, there is a prophecy that says 'either must die at the hands at the other, for neither may live while the other survives.' I cannot 'live' here until he is defeated because of this."

The forest and its denizens spoke for a very long time about what he said before talking to him once more.

"_We believe that we may have found acceptable terms, mortal. You will undergo the metamorphosis process and bloom into the Protector of the forest. After emerging, you will be given a tree here, and like a Dryad will be bound to it. This bond will activate upon your destruction of this Voldemort, and will call you back here to spend the rest of your days under our complete control. You will not linger, and you will not dawdle. You will fight, you will win and you will return to us. Is this agreeable, mortal?"_

Harry thought long and hard about this. He wasn't ready to give up his outside life just yet. However, it was a very nice offer and difficult to refuse. The forest magic granted to him through the metamorphosis could conceivably be the "Power the Dark Lord Knows Not" and would make things significantly easier. But was the gain worth the cost? Perhaps he could haggle.. Then, an idea came to him. He took the thought and ran with it, hoping it was what he needed.

"I like this deal a whole lot better than the last one, but I believe it is still incomplete." Harry said. A deep rumbling from the forest told him to backpedal, and quickly. "Or we could keep it how it is." Harry added sheepishly.

"_Then it is settled. Prepare yourself, Mortal."_

Harry didn't even have time to scream before the grasses of the forest consumed him.


	4. Chapter 4

A/n: my old dividers weren't showing up on Let's hope these work better.

Servitude of a Peculiar Sort

Chapter Four: Emergence

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**Catriona's Grove**

**June, 1996**

It hurt too much to scream. It was as if he was being ripped apart at the molecular level and reassembled into something new. He couldn't move or breathe because those functions were not installed into his being yet. And still, he was aware of every change that went on inside his body. Not that the changes were subtle. It was like trying to calculate how many different places you were being stabbed.

The most painful part was the addition to his magical core. His core had been sliced down the side and sewn into the fabric of another core. Then, to compensate for the new size of his core and the magic that had flooded out into his body, more was added. More power of an entirely different kind. His magic was controlled, orderly and stable. This new magic was chaotic, unstable and running rampant through his body. They didn't mix. They fought each other. His magic lost, and he felt a part of himself die.

The new magic charged through his veins like a poison. It ripped out everything it didn't like and rebuilt it from scratch

He was becoming something that hadn't ever existed before. He was becoming what Wizards would have been if they had stayed amongst the great forests millions of years ago.

By all rights, he should have died. But fate had already decreed that the only thing that could kill him was Voldemort, and that kept him alive. Barely.

Time passed, and he spent his every moment in agony. He suspected it had only been days, but it felt like centuries. Gradually, parts of his body came back on-line. His heart started beating and he began to breathe. He wondered how he could think without blood reaching his brain but could think of no answer. Later came his senses of smell and hearing. He knew he'd been hungry and thirsty at one point, but his cocoon was giving his body the nutrients it needed through some other method.

His pain lessened and his body strengthened. Eventually, something told him he had gained all he could from his chrysalis. Once, the cocoon that held him had been as hard as ironwood, but now it had the consistency of rotten logs. He could hear the forest calling to him from the outside.

He opened his eyes for the first time in ages, and pushed his way through.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Office of Headmistress McGonnagall**

**10:54AM, June 24th, 1996**

Minerva had all but given up on Harry Potter. She knew that he'd shared a special bond with Albus and that they had spent a large amount of time together this past year. It didn't take Merlin to put two and two together and realize they were discussing Voldemort. She suspected that Albus had been preparing him for something. She suspected that he had found someone to teach him and that Harry was in hiding and learning some unthinkably powerful magic to aid them in the fight against the Dark Lord. He had at least an eight hour head start by the time they'd started looking. He could have been just about anywhere by then if he could Apparate or use Muggle transportation.

But that wasn't what Dobby kept telling her. Every day he would pop by and make a not too subtle comment about looking for Harry in the Forbidden Forest. While it was getting quite annoying by now, she had to admire the elf's persistence.

Yesterday, though was Bill and Fleur's wedding and none of Harry's friends had heard anything from him yet. Even Harry wasn't inconsiderate enough to leave his friends hanging for nearly a month. She began to doubt her conviction in this matter and with no other options, she elected to take a look about the forest.

She gathered Hagrid and Dobby and together they began to search the Forest.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Catriona's Grove**

**11:30 AM, June 24th, 1996**

There were so many voices that Harry could hardly think. His eyes hurt, and he clenched them shut. Everything was so chaotic he couldn't make sense of anything. He staggered forward a few steps, covering his ears with his hands. Harry began to panic. There was a soft, soothing voice in Harry's head, and he felt the familiar sensation of warm breath on his neck and relax. Strong, soft hands guided him forward and he followed them blindly. Then he went downwards into the fresh cold water of Catriona's spring.

The water felt like a breath of life into his changed body. His strength returned and he managed to tune out some of the voices in his head.

"What...happened?" Harry managed to rasp out. It was difficult to speak. A sip of water helped change that.

"_You emerged. You are one of us now, and as such can speak the language of the forest. The voices you hear are all the things you formerly associated as noise. Everything from the buzzing of the smallest bee to the whistle of the wind and rustling of the trees. You will come to ignore them until you need to hear them. It gets easier." _she soothed.

"What else did it change about me?" he asked.

"_Perhaps, that would be easier to explain if you open your eyes."_

Harry did, and gazed down at his hands. His skin was the color of springtime grass. It felt tougher and more leathery than it had before. Thin, yellow veins like the ones in leaves criss-crossed under his skin. Something told him they no longer carried blood. Even the tiniest of hairs on his arm was now a deep green and felt like grass. Further inspection proved that it was grass. His nails were rough and brown like tree bark. He also thought that his arms were longer, and that the shape of his hands was...different.

He gazed past his hands and into his reflection in the water. His face was more alien than his hands. Like Catriona, his hair was green and made up entirely of plants. His tongue and lips were brown, as was the skin inside his mouth. His ears now stuck out more and were larger and shaped in a more dog-like fashion for better hearing. His face had stretched outwards giving him a more animal appearance. The only things that looked familiar were his eyes and scar. He suspected his glasses wouldn't even fit his head, but he could now see better without them.

"Where's my wand?" Harry asked, feeling somewhat insecure without it.

Catriona grinned and looked past Harry's shoulder at something behind him. He turned and followed her gaze. His wand had grown at least a foot since the last time he'd seen it and was now firmly rooted in the ground. Its first branches were shooting off the sides of the trunk and it was growing a few leaves.

"_Someday, when your soul bond is broken, that will become your tree. And someday, with your power as Protector aiding it, your tree will grow even taller than mine."_

Harry felt little attachment for his tree at that point. It was a stunted little thing that still had visible amounts of wand polish on it.

Harry leaned against the side of the pool and sighed.

"_You have questions."_ Catriona stated. _"Ask them."_

Harry took a deep breath before starting. "Why does it still hurt to talk? How does my magic work? How is it different from wizard magic? How do I use it? Am I still human? What else has changed about me that I can't see on the outside? What can I do that I couldn't before? What day is it? When should I leave?-"

Catriona's dry chuckle cut him off. _"Let's start with those for now, shall we?"_ Catriona said with a smile. _"Your throat adapted itself to speak the natural tongue. To use it for something so simple as human speech is like asking a dragon to light a cigarette. The physical effort involved in making your voice stoop to such a narrow, primitive level is demanding. While I know he human tongue, I prefer to speak through thoughts like this. "_

"_I know next to nothing about your magic as it is. I assume it would be like casting spells without incantations or wand waving. Simply will it to be and it shall happen if it is withing your power. I do know that your magic has no talent for subtlety. You will find controlling it to be exceptionally difficult, but the strength of your spells should make it a worthwhile trade."_

"_Technically, Wizards aren't human if you want to analyze things like that. You are what you see yourself as, and nothing less."_

"_As for your other changes, I can only speculate. No wizard has ever been declared protector of this forest. At least... not in my lifetime. Usually a tree is declared protector, and becomes what you wizards know as an Ent. There are a few Entlings left in the forest, descendants of our last protector five centuries ago... but I digress. I suspect your plantlike qualities will make you require more water and possibly sunlight. I suppose you'd eat less to compensate... I say figure it out for yourself."_

"_And as for leaving... you can leave any time you like. I heard the trees muttering of a group of wizards and a house elf entering the forest shortly before you awoke. If you like, I can change the properties of my grove and bring them towards this place instead of leading them away."_

Harry tried his best to absorb all the information tossed at him. He took in as much as he could but most of it passed him by.

"I'll find my own way back. I suspect it's Dobby with them and as soon as I leave, he'll find me. He has a way of doing that."

"_If it suits you then it is fine by me."_ Catriona responded. Her voice said otherwise.

Harry was about to answer when something struck him as odd. "What happened to our bond? It's different now. No charm or infatuation. I can freely think about the outside world without wondering about how it pertains to you. Why?"

Catriona smiled sadly. _"In order to make it possible for you to leave the forest, they had to loop your bond to me in with your bond to your tree. While you are still drawn to them both, you won't feel it until after you've completed your task. I suspect that the moment the dark one dies, you will feel like you swallowed a dozen love potions, and want to return as soon as possible. But until then, you will feel no physical attraction to anyone. Less distractions gets the job done quicker."_

Now Harry understood. It seemed that everything would be put on hold until Voldemort was defeated. Even love would have to wait. Still, Harry felt manipulated and cheated. With this new, unshackled power inside him, he hated being a puppet even more than he had before Dumbledore's untimely death. Motivated mostly by spite, Harry climbed out of the pool and over to Catriona. Though he felt nothing, he kissed her with a savageness that surprised them both. The pleased look on Catriona's face confirmed what he'd thought: though his half of the bond was suspended until Voldemort's demise, her half was not. She would long for him every day while he was gone. It was cruel, and yet he understood the motive behind it. He just didn't like it.

Still, he suspected he could stay with her awhile longer. For her sake as much as his.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**The Forbidden Forest**

**1:18pm, June 24th, 1996**

Minerva was beginning to have her doubts about this forest trip. But still Dobby urged them on with all the enthusiasm he had.

Hagrid was next to useless now as they had now traveled further into the forest than he had ever been. She was about thirty seconds from insisting they turn back, when Dobby suddenly stopped. His ears perked up, and he sniffed the air a few times, like a hound noticing an unfamiliar scent.

The elf then jumped in the air and let out a cheer of "Harry Potter!" and began to run off to the right as fast as his elven legs could take him.

"Why didn't he just pop to Harry?" Minerva asked.

Hagrid shrugged. Minerva shrugged back and they followed the sounds of Dobby's cheerful yells towards what they presumed was Harry.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**The Forbidden Forest**

**1:25 PM, June 24th, 1996**

It had been exceedingly difficult for Harry to have sex with someone he had no feelings for. Still, he was filled with satisfaction both from his sexual release and the belief that he'd done the right thing.

Harry left the grove after a reluctant goodbye and was now heading back towards Hogwarts and his old life. He'd been gone only a few minutes, when he realized that he was completely unclothed. His only clothes had been missing when he emerged from his cocoon.

He couldn't bear the thought of encountering any of the Hogwarts staff while nude. Magic was his only option. He concentrated on his Hogwarts uniform in his trunk and willed it to come to him

Nothing.

He tried again, this time concentrating only on the robes, ignoring the fact that they were in his trunk. There was a crackle of static electricity and the rumble of distant thunder. Harry felt a rush like he'd been given a shot of pure adrenaline and BOOM! There was an explosion twenty feet ahead of him. The shockwave forced Harry to stagger backwards. Up ahead, in the center of the crater sat a freshly cleaned pair of Hogwarts robes complete with socks, shoes and undergarments. Harry got dressed and continued on his way towards Hogwarts.

As Harry walked, something bowled into him from the side, knocking him off balance. He caught himself against a nearby tree and gathered his magic, preparing to defend himself.

"Harry Potter, sir!" the thing that bowled into him squeaked.

Harry forced the magic he'd gathered back into himself with extreme difficulty. "Dobby?"

The elf grinned. He was hugging Harry's hip very tightly. "Yes, Harry Potter sir?" the elf asked

Whatever Harry was going to say was interrupted by Headmistress McGonnagall pushing through the underbrush. "Why'd he go quiet?" she demanded "and where'd he get off to?"

Hagrid came through the brush behind her. "E's over there." Hagrid said, pointing.

"Hello, Headmistress." Harry said politely.

"Oh dear sweet Merlin..." she responded.


	5. Chapter 5

**Servitude of a Peculiar Sort**

**Chapter Five: Order's orders**

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**Number Twelve Grimmauld Place**

**2:30 PM June 24th, 1996**

Minerva's fists were clenched tightly, her nails digging into her palms hard enough to draw blood. After an extremely short recount of the events that happened after Dumbledore's Funeral, she dragged him by his ear to her office, ranting about his failure to think the entire way.

Within half an hour she had procured him some clothing and called a full meeting of the Order of the Phoenix for him to account for his actions.

Harry already longed to return to the forest.

One by one, the members of the Order were filtering into the meeting room. Harry kept his body completely covered by an over-sized brown robe with a hood that obscured his entire face, even in the well-lit meeting room. He kept his hands inside the opposite arm's sleeve so that no part of either hand was visible. Depending on their point of view, one could interpret his stance as either one of sulking defiance or soulful meditation.

Every Order member seemed quite concerned about the identity of the brown robed stranger who sat next to Minerva at the head of the table. Remus kept sniffing the air like he smelled something vaguely familiar, and Moody was giving him appraising looks with his magical eye. Eventually, the battle-hardened Auror gave him a look that clearly said "I approve" before relaxing into his chair to wait for the last of the stragglers to wander in.

At last, Dung Fletcher came in, followed by Tonks. They took the last two chairs and waited for the meeting to begin.

Harry heard Dung muttering under his breath from he other side of the room. "I wonder who died? Too damn quiet." The corners of Remus's mouth twitched upwards indicating he'd heard but nobody else gave any outward indication of having noticed.

"I call this emergency meeting of the Order of the Phoenix to order." Minerva said from the head of the table. "The first ting on our agenda is an information update regarding Harry."

The room filled with excited murmuring and a loud cheer from the Twins. Minerva gestured for silence but people didn't respect her nearly as much as they had Dumbledore. She had to wait for the meeting to quiet down.

"We found him this morning inside the Forbidden Forest where he has been spending the last month. From what I understand he has been training in the forest and he reacted with some of the magic there and it...changed him. His physical appearance barely resembles the boy he once was. He is here today to give us the full story of what happened. After we leave here, he will be thoroughly examined by Madame Pomefrey for any harm this magic may have caused him. Assuming he is fine, he will be placed under glamors and sent to live with his relatives for the remainder of the holidays."

The other shoe dropped at some point during Minerva's speech and there were a few shocked gasps as people realized the tall, brown robed stranger was, in fact Harry Potter.

There were angry exclamations, confused muttering, and more than a few hurt looks. Molly Weasley's screeching drowned them all out.

"Harry! How irresponsible! Running off in the forest for a month without supervision! It's not safe! You could have been killed! What do-" She was just getting going when Harry cut her off, surprising even himself.

"Enough!" He said firmly, getting to his feet. He was aware at how deathly quiet the room had gotten. Alastor seemed to be the only one completely unaffected by Harry's voice. The Auror was leaning back in his chair, smirking like he was the only one who knew a joke was being played. "Mrs. Weasley, I love you to death, but you are not my mother. It is not your place to chastise me, for what I do and don't do."

Molly stiffened as if she'd been struck. "Well, I never." she huffed as Harry began his explanation.

"On the night of Dumbledore's funeral, I found myself wandering the forest because the only path up to the school was blocked by people I wasn't quite in the mood to see. I lost track of time and found myself further in the forest than I'd ever been. It was on my way back to the school that I stumbled upon the grove of a Dryad."

Again, the Order descended into chaos. The few people in the room who knew what a Dryad was were in various states of shock and disbelief. Strangely enough, Dung Fletcher knew something about Dryads and was explaining to the Twins and Tonks that it was "a magical bint that lives in a tree and can control a man's mind."

Harry smirked beneath his hood. Who would have thought that an Order could have this much disorder inside it?

Harry raised his hand to gesture for silence and immediately realized that it was a mistake. His hand was now visible and people were openly gaping at his green flesh. Harry re-hid his hand and continued his story.

"The Dryad in question overpowered my mental defenses with ease and proceeded to bond me to her, as a servant." Harry was just ignoring the gasps of shock and awe. He felt like he was telling his story to a room full full of children, not trained adult witches and wizards. "It didn't work. Something about the bond my scar gives me to Voldemort-" the room collectively flinched "stopped the bond from happening and the magic involved in the bonding had to be spent doing something else. It tried to make me resemble the dryad, and tried to bring me closer to her physically since mentally was not an option with the bond. That worked fine and it gave me a few gifts that are usually exclusive to Dryads."

Harry paused for a moment, trying to moisten his throat. The glass of water he had in Minerva's office was wearing off and he was beginning to rasp once more.

"The problem is that half of the bond did happen. The part of the bond that attaches the Dryad to me. If I left and did not return, she would have died. Part of the Dryad bond makes the Dryad depend on her servant and makes them more powerful in the servant's presence. If I had left that would have reversed, slowly sucking the life out of her. Because this Dryad was quite important to the Forbidden forest, the forest acted on her behalf and sort of...forced me to bond myself to the forest. I went into a cocoon of sorts while the magic of the forest spent time changing me. I just emerged from that cocoon today."

"Thank you Mr. Potter." McGonnagall said tersely. "You may take the floo back to Hogwarts and see Madame Pomfrey. The questions can wait for another time."

Amidst cries of protest and questions about his story, Harry left the room without saying a word.

Madame Pomfrey was waiting in McGonnagall's office for him. She led him up to the Hospital wing and gave him a dose of dreamless sleep.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**The Hospital Wing**

**Hogwarts**

**6:30 AM, July 25th, 1996**

Every movement was pure agony as Harry fought his way through the fog the sleep potion had left in his mind. He was sweating so much that his sheet was soaked. He opened his eyes and sat up. His body screamed in protest.

"What did she do to me?" Harry asked himself.

Regardless, it seemed that his new body reacted negatively to the matron's care and until he could figure out why, he would have to be extremely careful. The way he felt right now, he assumed that an extended stay under Madame Pomfrey's care would kill him.

Wincing, Harry got to his feet and hobbled towards the restroom. His body was craving a few things and he couldn't figure out what either of them were. It was more of a general feeling that he required something that he hadn't needed like this before.

Harry washed his hands after flushing the toilet. He had to suppress a shiver as a rush of energy passed through him. Water... he needed water. Harry shut off the sink and stripped. There was a small shower in the Hospital wing bathroom. He climbed in and made use of it. The icy water cleansed and healed him. He removed the silt that had somehow gotten in his hair and shut off the water. He made use of a conveniently placed towel and got back into his dirty clothes. Harry hadn't felt this refreshed since he left Catriona's pond. He'd thought at the time that the pool at the base of Catriona's tree had magical healing properties. Now he understood that it was something about this new body and its strong dependence on water that gave him this feeling.

When Harry returned from the shower Madame Pomfrey was up and waiting for him.

"Good morning, Mr. Potter." she greeted tersely. "I trust you slept well?"

"Well enough." Harry agreed. He didn't want to small talk. He wanted to know what she'd found.

"The diagnostics I performed yesterday revealed some... interesting information." she informed him. "Namely because more than half of them did not work. The ones that did work gave me impossible data. The amount of water in your body was well above the level that would be fatal to a human and yet you were showing signs of dehydration. Your blood sugar was fully twenty percent higher than the fatal level and your blood alcohol level was somewhere around four percent and yet you passed every sobriety charm that didn't involve testing your blood. You were a conglomeration of medical impossibilities. I kept expecting you to start going into diabetic seizures and yet you seem to be in perfect health." She looked at him, hoping for some sort of explanation.

Harry sighed. "Madame Pomfrey, the only explanation I can give is that I am no longer human. I'm still trying to figure out just how much has changed about me. I would appreciate if you could find out why those certain charms failed. I imagine that's something I'll need to know in the future. Thank you for your care." Harry said with a smile, and taking his leave of the hospital wing. He was already out the door when he heard her shouts of "but I haven't released you yet!"

Harry left the Hospital wing behind and made his way out onto the grounds. He was vaguely aware that he was still wearing the over-sized brown robe from yesterday but such concerns would have to wait. His curiosity was overwhelming his common sense. Everyone was asking him questions about how his magic had changed and what he could do and he didn't have the answer. What had all these physical changes done for his magic?

Harry found himself standing at the edge of the lake. It was uncharacteristically overcast for summer. Harry could _feel_ the incoming rain.

'I guess I'll start with something simple.' he thought. Harry felt vaguely silly trying to do magic without a wand. With a shrug, he muttered "Here goes nothing."

"_Stupefy!_" he cast, his arm pointed at the water. WHAM! Suddenly, Harry was on his back looking up at the sky. He felt like he'd just been kicked by a giant and considering how far he was from the lake, he hadn't ruled it out as impossible. His attempt to "control" the natural magic inside him had been met with painful consequences. This type of magic wasn't meant to be used with an incantation and reacted badly when he attempted to force it. He would need to try something else.

Harry pulled himself to his feet and staggered over to the lake. This time he would try something simpler and without an incantation. He noticed a tall, slightly wilted yellow flower. _Yellow iris_ he knew. He blinked. The name popped into his head from nowhere. Looking about, he found he could identify every single plant present, as well as useful tidbits of information about them. Harry raised his hand and pointed it at the wilting iris. He willed the plant to revive itself He focused and clenched his eyes shut, trying to imagine the plant in its prime. No longer droopy, no dried up brown spots... Cautiously, Harry opened one eye and looked at the iris.

It was completely unchanged. He didn't need to know the language of the forest to know the flower was laughing at him. Annoyed at his failure, Harry headed back up to the castle, imagining the look on McGonnagall's face when he explained that he needed to relearn magic from scratch.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Transfiguration Classroom**

**Hogwarts**

**11:15 AM, July 25****th****, 1996**

As he'd expected, McGonnagall had been furious and yet, strangely understanding. She had sent him off to her classroom and said she would be there shortly and that he should move the desks except one to the side of the room.

Harry had done this and was now seated at the remaining desk, waiting for the Headmistress to arrive.

She was already talking as she opened the door. "...is my spare wand which you will be using today. Eleven inches, redwood and Treant sap core (willingly given of course.) It sounds quite suitable given your current state."

"They told me that no wand would work for me-" Harry started.

"I'm aware of that, Mr. Potter. However as of right now, we know next to nothing about your condition save that you have an extremely large reserve of power that you don't know how to access. For lack of a better idea, you will try that wand and if that fails, I will give you access to some of Albus's tomes on wandless magic. This is simply a place to start."

Harry nodded his understanding and picked up the offered wand. The Headmistress set a small blue button on the desk in front of him. "Try and turn this into a beetle, Mr. Potter. I trust you remember the incantation?"

"Yes ma'am." Harry replied. He raised the wand "_Snottubotselteeb!"_ This time instead of flying back, a sickly green stream of magic poured out of the wand, and condensing into a sphere around the button on the desk. Harry tried frantically to stop the continuous stream of magic pouring out of the wand but was unable. He even tried dropping the wand but it stayed in his hand as if held by a powerful magnet.

"Put up a shield!" Harry commanded Minerva who did so. The sphere had enveloped the entire desk and was vibrating as if it was extremely unstable. The stream finally stopped pouring from Harry's wand but the sphere was vibrating even faster than before and the wand remained stuck to Harry's hand. The floating orb of magic shrank down to about half its size and exploded, leveling the classroom. Minerva's shield collapsed under the force of the blast and she hit the wall hard. The desks surrounding the room were reduced to splinters Harry felt something snap inside of him that didn't feel like a bone. His magic came rushing out to meet the explosion and manifested as a shield.

The explosion cleared and Harry was still standing. His magic had been jarred awake by the explosion. Harry dropped the shield he'd been holding up and waved his hand across the ruined desks. The splinters began to crawl on top of each other and reassemble like some impossibly difficult jigsaw puzzle.

Harry approached McGonnagall's fallen body near the blackboard. Acting purely on instinct, he placed a hand on each of her shoulders and she glowed slightly. Her bones knit themselves back together and her eyes fluttered open.

"I... Mr. Potter... What happened?" She asked.

"There was an accident when I cast the spell with your spare wand. I'm afraid it was destroyed." Harry said simply. "Here, let me help you up."

"Regrettable but understandable, Mr. Potter. Thank you." Harry helped her up.

"I believe I have learned enough about my magic to practice on my own, Headmistress.. Thank you."

She flashed him the briefest of smiles. "Anytime, Mr. Potter." She made her way towards the door. "You are free to use this classroom for your studies until I tell you otherwise."

"Thank you, Headmistress."

She nodded and took a few more steps towards the door. "Oh, and Mr. Potter?"

"Yes, Headmistress?"

"Contact your friends when you find the time. I have received entirely too many letters in the last few days to bother with theirs on top of it all. Good day." She left the room without another word.

"Good day." Harry echoed, long after she'd gone. Harry looked down at his feet. "How in the world am I going to explain this to them?"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**A/n: **Wow! So very sorry it took this long. It seems I'm never going to be able to update regularly, the way everything's been going.

So, about the fic. For magic purposes only, I'm going to treat Harry as if he was a Druid from D&D with some of the "wild magic" feats. I'm going to slowly advance his variety of spells up the druid spell list, relying heavily on the player's handbook and the complete divine for sources. I'm going to have him able to cast second level spells at this point (so he cast Cure light wounds on McGonnagall to heal her up. She's a spellcaster, and won't have much in the name of HP, right? Besides, a CLW is really all you need to stabilize someone...)

The shield was "resist energy" and the repairs on the desks were done by the "wood shape" spell. You get the picture. I like the raging bouts of uncontrolled magic that Harry will go through, but they won't

happen very frequently. In fact I suspect that every time he loses control like that is when I'll knock him up another spell level.

Other than that, sorry for the long wait. Thanks for reading!

Ghostwheel


	6. Chapter 6

**Servitude of a Peculiar Sort**

**Chapter Six: **Back to the Dursleys

**A/n: **Just letting you know there may be a few spoilers from Deathly Hallows over the next few chapters. There will be nothing from the main storyline, and nothing that one would be able to recognize as a spoiler without having read book 7 first. None of these spoilers will be Exactly the same as they were in canon, but some aspects will be similar. There are no spoilers in this chapter.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Hogwarts Castle**

**Near the lake**

**11:13A.M, July 29th 1996**

Harry gained some semblance of control over his magic in the few days that passed since his initial outburst. Not that "control" was the right word to describe what he was doing. It was closer to suggesting that his magic do something and his magic would either do it or it wouldn't. Sometimes, Harry found that if he phrased his mental request differently (but asking for the same result) the magic would happen even if it hadn't the first time he tried. Harry highly suspected that his new magic was sentient.

Training with his magic was a lot like training a muscle. While it had some initial strength to it, it still needs work to get into optimal condition. The more spells Harry cast, the more healthy and strong his magic felt. Harry suspected that if he left his magic alone, it would atrophy and weaken.

His old magic was shackled and bound to him with occasional outbursts where it was uncontrolled (accidental magic). His new magic was the complete opposite: it was unpredictable at all times save for the rare moments when the manipulation of his magic suddenly came as naturally to him as breathing. When this happened, the feeling of power was intoxicating and Harry would feel giddy even hours afterward. The raw energy oozing from his fingertips where he could summon and manipulate fire, warp wood and call an animal to him that would fight until it died in Harry's service... with the exception of fire summoning, these were all spells well above the NEWT level and quite impressive when completed by an ordinary wizard. Harry _knew_ with every fiber of his being that this was "the power the Dark Lord knows not." Only Headmistress McGonnagall had witnessed it, and even then it was only for a few seconds before she was blown unconscious. Harry was now taking pains to make sure he only practiced when nobody else was around. If he knew that anyone was going to be about (Minerva rarely was and with the exceptions of Trelawney and Filch, she was the only instructor who lived at the castle during the summers. Madame Pomefrey tutored prospective healers at St. Mungo's during the summer, but was still on call if Hogwarts needed her at any time.) he would only cast harmless parlor tricks such as growing a bouquet of flowers from thin air and giving them to the Headmistress. He tried to cast something new each time she was around just to show he was progressing. He suspected that his progress and the fact that he stayed out of her sight with the exceptions of mealtimes were the only things keeping her from sending him to the Dursleys.

The Dursleys... if they didn't think he was a freak before they would now. Harry wanted to see them about as much as he wanted an encounter with one of those Crenelated Testicular Scavenger Worms that he read about in the restricted section. That was another benefit of staying at Hogwarts over the summer. Nobody was there to monitor who read which books.

Besides his seemingly random reading, his magical training and his attempts to charm McGonnagall into not sending him back to the Dursleys, Harry had discovered other things about himself. The most interesting of which was his body's peculiar reaction to sunlight. Harry discovered that he had become at least partially photosynthetic. As such, he felt even more alive when he was in direct sunlight. Also, the more sunlight he got during the day, the less he needed to eat. The sun didn't provide everything he needed to sustain himself, but it helped a great deal. He would always need to eat at least something though, as his body didn't have roots with which he could extract nutrients out of the soil.

The other thing he noticed was a serious increase in the rate his body healed. A deep cut that would ordinarily take a week and a half to heal would be gone by dinnertime. Harry found this out by forgetting about a certain vanishing step on a staircase and tumbling the rest of the way down. As he was only wearing a t-shirt and shorts, he got quite a few nasty cuts on his way down the stone staircase.

Harry looked up at the sun. He could tell time by its position in the sky now and he was invariably right within three minutes of his estimate. Even at night he knew the time, even though the sun was no longer visible. In this case, the time was almost noon. Lunch started at 11:30 and he was late. Minerva insisted on at least trying to have meals together for some reason or another. He supposed it was so she could check up on him and make sure he hadn't died or something.

Harry got to his feet (he'd been lying in the grass, recovering from his last magical discharge. In this case, it was his largest flame conjuration yet: a five foot by five foot sphere that stayed in existence for just over ten seconds before Harry lost control of it and it left. Harry had been making it fly in circles over his head before he felt his magic give out on him.) and made his way slowly back to the castle.

Minerva was just sitting down to her seat when Harry arrived. Just about perfect timing.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Potter. I trust your independent studies went well?" She asked.

Speaking with her every meal had brought Harry a lot closer to Minerva. He understood that while they were both speaking English, it was not the same language. When she asked one question, she didn't want the answer to that question. She wanted the answer to the question she didn't ask. Now that Harry knew how she functioned, he simply needed to find the question. This one was easy. She was asking him if he'd gained any more control over his magic.

"They went very well." Harry answered. "I worked mostly on my conjurations, but I also figured out how to do this." When he said 'this' Harry asked his magic to make him like a chameleon and blend in with his surroundings. The way he did it this time was humorous as he took on the stone pattern of the wall behind the bench he was seated on. In reality he could do the spell a whole lot better. It was slightly stronger than disillusionment but still slightly weaker than total invisibility. But this was something he didn't want the Headmistress to know. In fact, it was really something he didn't want anyone to know. Not yet at least.

"Impressive, Mr. Potter. Your control has improved greatly over the past few days." Minerva said with genuine pride in her voice. Then her face turned grim. "But unfortunately I also have to be the bearer of bad news. Were it not for my promise to Albus before his...passing I would not send you back at all. I still considered it, even though it was his dying wish. Those people you live with are foul beyond reason and nobody should have to deal with them, especially not you. You will be returning to them tomorrow. However, without the Hogwarts Express it is difficult to transport you to Surrey from here. As such, I will send you to the Burrow this afternoon for an early birthday celebration before you return to Privet Drive in the morning. This was the best I could manage Mr. Potter. I apologize."

Harry nodded his understanding and answered in a voice barely louder than a whisper. "You did more than he ever did."

Minerva's face twitched into a frown. "Your placement at the Dursleys was something I never agreed with Albus on. We argued about it constantly, from the moment he first tried to place you there. It was the one thing that I ever doubted his judgment on. I only regret that I let him place you there in the first place."

This was one thing Harry had never known about. Nobody had told him that his Head of House at the time was fighting for him behind the scenes since he was an infant. It made him remember that he wasn't alone in this fight. "Thank you." Harry said.

And then, just like that, the subject was gone. The emotional moment was over. Harry finished his lunch and Minerva told Harry to pack his things. He would be headed to the Burrow within the hour.

It didn't take him long to pack. Harry hadn't taken anything out of his trunk except clothing. With bored house elves all over the place, his laundry had already been cleaned and folded from the day before. He arrived with his trunk in the great hall with five minutes to spare. Minerva was waiting for him. She was carrying a small purple dishtowel which Harry assumed (correctly) to be a Portkey.

Five minutes and a hook behind his navel later, he found himself face down in the Weasley's living room. By the time he'd sat up, there were three Weasley's and a Granger in the room, inquiring after his welfare.

"Don't bother with the security question, Mum. Nobody can mess up a Portkey landing like Harry can." Harry heard Ron say as he was pulling himself to his feet.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Harry said. "I hate those things though. I can't wait until I can apparate."

"You're sure you're all right, Harry dear?" Mrs. Weasley inquired. Harry was happy to notice that she seemed to bear no hard feelings for his harsh comments at the Order meeting.

"Yeah. It just made me dizzy." Harry said, vaguely noticing that Hermione was trying to peek inside of his hooded robe. "Mrs. Weasley? How much did you explain to them about what happened to me?"

"I thought I would leave the explanations to you, dear. Let me put the kettle on." She said, leaving the room at a brisk pace. An awkward silence followed her passing. Harry was the one to break it.

"I might as well get this over with." Harry said, pulling back his hood. Hermione let out a startled "EEP!" Ginny's eyes bugged and Ron swore.

"Merlin's balls, Harry. What'd they do to you?" Ron asked.

Harry laughed. "It wasn't exactly someone doing something to me as it was the forbidden forest deciding to turn me into its champion."

Hermione twitched. "What?" She asked.

"This is going to be a long story. Why don't we all head up to Ron's room."

It took Harry nearly four hours to get through the entire story. Except about his private training at school. He kept the information he knew about his full magic power to himself. He planned to keep that secret to himself for as long as he could.

Hermione had been particularly curious about his photosynthesis and had asked a dozen questions about it. He almost expected her to start taking notes. After her question frenzy, she excused herself and left Harry alone with Ron and Ginny.

"So... what do you think of all this?" Harry asked Ron.

He shrugged. "Better you than me, mate." He paused and then got a predatory grin. "So, what was this Catriona girl like? How far did you go? Does this bond between you two mean that you're essentially married?"

"She's really hot in a way that feels almost dirty." Harry answered with a predatory smile. "Like something you didn't realize you wanted until you see it there, waiting for you. She's also an immensely powerful ancient magical creature that will look like she's somewhere between 18 and 21 for all eternity. And as for the second question, well... what do you know about Dryad bonding ceremonies?" Harry raised his eyebrows suggestively to get the idea across. Ginny looked livid.

"You're kidding!" he exclaimed.

"Nope. And for the third question... I don't know. We are in all the ways it matters to Dryads, but I don't think that's something that will be acknowledged by Wizarding law."

"Wicked!"

"I know!" Harry answered. He was about to continue when Ginny huffed loudly and stormed out of the room. Harry grinned. "I was waiting for that to happen." something about his bond with Catriona made him feel disdain for all those who were seeking him as a mate. Catriona had things that none of them could offer and their advances now felt cheap and sleazy to him. Harry continued to feel his normal feelings for everyone unless they looked to him as more than a friend.

"Me too." Ron replied. "She's been mooning over you ever since you two split up. I told her to get over it but she yelled at me."

Harry shrugged. "Women."

Ron laughed."So... she never gets old?"

"Nope. "

"So... when you're a dying old man, she'll still look 18 and love you just as much as when you first started?"

"Pretty much. Although, it'll take me a lot longer to be a dying old man... Her magic extends my lifetime to be about twice what a normal wizard's would be. I should expect to kick off around 280 or so."

"And even if you practice every day, I'll still be able to whip you in chess." Ron said

"You'll be dead, Ron." Harry deadpanned.

"Too true. But I'll still win." Ron replied. "Speaking of which, are you up for a game?"

"Sure... Why not?"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**The Burrow**

**Ron's Room**

**6:19PM, July 29th, 1995**

Ron beat him in chess, like he always did but it was much more costly for him this time. His encyclopedic knowledge for plants and animals seemed to include a greater understanding of the predator/prey relationship. This led him to capture Ron's queen and even put him in check a few times before he lost.

"Mum should call us for dinner soon. We should head down." Ron said. Harry nodded his agreement and followed Ron to the kitchen.

Mrs. Weasley seemed to have eyes in the back of her head and noticed them enter without turning around.

"Harry, be a dear and help set the table. Dinner's almost ready. Ron, go out to your father's barn and get Hermione and your father. I think Bill might be out there as well. Tell them that dinner's ready." Ron nodded mutely and headed out to the barn. Harry set the table and was just finishing as Hermione, Ron, Bill and Mr. Weasley came in.

"Evening, Harry." Mr. Weasley greeted, taking a seat at the table.

"Good evening, Mr. Weasley." Harry replied.

The door swung open a second time and the twins came in.

"Sorry we're late!" Fred called.

"The traffic was terrible!" George joked.

"Harry, I love what you did with your hair. Tell me, do you use conditioner or do you just have to pull out all the weeds?"

"This is for you." George said, dropping a present into Harry's lap. It was shaped like a bottle of laundry detergent.

Tonks, Remus and Luna Lovegood all arrived within the next fifteen minutes, each one giving Harry their birthday greetings.

"Neville sends his greetings." Luna said dreamily. "His Gran is keeping him busy and he couldn't make it."

"That's a shame." Harry replied. "I was hoping to see him."Harry was surprised to hear the sincerity of his answer. While they hadn't exactly started out as great friends, Neville had really grown on him over the years.

Dinner vanished in a flurry of knives and forks and yet still it seemed that Molly would keep bringing stuff out of the kitchen. By the time the birthday cake came around, Harry was stuffed. Then came the presents. Mr. Weasley went out to his shed and wheeled back a large...cart of some sort that was covered in wrapping paper with the exception of its wheels. On top of it were more presents.

"Happy Birthday, Harry." Hermione announced. "Open the big one last. That one is from Me, Mr. Weasley, Bill, Fred and George "

Harry opened the packages piled on top of the cart. From Remus, Tonks Bill, Charlie and Fleur he received an everlasting flagon of butterbeer. Press the button and it fills up to the top with Rosmerta's finest ice cold butterbeer.

"Charlie sends his regards. He pitched in on it but couldn't make it to the party. Order business. Fleur is at her Parents house preparing them for coming out here. They should arrive by tomorrow." Bill explained. Harry thanked them.

Next up was a better set of chessmen from Ron. Instead of the usual medieval weapons, the units were wizards and generally used a wand to blast the enemy piece to dust. "I should've given these to you before crushing you in chess today but I didn't think of it." Ron apologized.

"Don't worry abut it. Worry about the fact that I'm going to beat you at chess at least once before you die." Harry taunted.

"In your dreams!" Ron responded

"Boys!" Mrs. Weasley admonished.

Harry opened the next present. It was a plain black book with no identifying marks on the cover.

"Alastor sends his regards." Mr. Weasley said. "He told me to tell you to read it after the party, away from prying eyes." Harry nodded his thanks.

Hermione and Ginny pitched in to get him a backpack that was magically expanded. "The clerk said you could carry up to 500 pounds of stuff in there without even noticing the weight. After that it starts weighing you down like a normal backpack." Ginny said.

"Thanks, both of you!" Harry replied. They both beamed at him.

Harry found himself at the last present. The big cart thing. It was the size and shape of a coffin sitting on a park bench.

"Now, before you open it, let me explain. I thought this up this afternoon when we were talking in your room, so I recruited everyone to help on it." Hermione said. "So all of us had already gotten you something already and-."

"She's absolutely brilliant Harry. We want her to work at the shop with us!" Fred interrupted. Hermione glared at him.

"Anyway, just open it." George added.

Harry peeled the wrapping paper and stared at the thing before him, puzzled. He didn't have the foggiest idea what it was. It was green, plastic and looked like something straight out of science fiction. It had hinges so he could open the lid, a few buttons and dials and looked like a futuristic coffin with legs that had been fastened to wheels. He opened it. It was filled with rows of fluorescent light bulbs covered by a sheet of clear plastic (or was that glass?).

"What...is it?" Harry asked.

Hermione grinned. "It's a tanning bed with some slight changes. Specifically, I changed the lightbulbs and they worked on making it more comfortable and shrinkable and whatnot. Bill made it so it will run on a certain frequency shocking charm so the magic doesn't interfere with the technology. This baby will run at Hogwarts."

Harry was still confused. "Why would I need a tan? My skin is green. Won't I wilt or something?"

Hermione sighed. "You receive energy from sunlight, right?"

Harry nodded.

"I just filled a tanning bed with those 'plant growth' lights you can find at the hardware store. Mr. Weasley took me there. I installed them. It works. Try it."

Harry nodded mutely. Harry shrugged off his big brown robe and climbed in. Once inside, he pulled off his shirt. Someone wolf whistled. Hermione closed the lid and turned the machine on. The lights came on and Harry felt himself... recharge. It was the same feeling he felt in sunlight except now it had been concentrated into exactly what he needed. There was no longer a filtering process where his body sorted out what was useful from what was not. Harry felt his magic pulse inside of him. It too was responding positively to this light. Harry closed his eyes to sink deeper into this feeling... and then it was gone. The world had turned dark and cold once more. Hermione had turned the machine back off.

"Did it work?" Hermione asked as he opened the lid. Harry had a goofy grin on his face and his green skin was...glowing.

"Yeah..." Harry managed. "Hermione... you're my hero."

Everyone laughed and Hermione gave him a big hug. "Well, we layered it with cushioning charms, lightening charms and put a permanent shocking curse on the plug. Press the big red button to shrink it. I thought this would work..."

"Thanks." Harry said again. "I'm going to sleep in this tonight."

"That... might not be such a good idea. Harry, your body is radiating magic."

"Fine, fine. I'll sleep in it after a training session and I've used up all my magic." Harry replied. Still, his body longed for the feeling of concentrated sunlight again. It was like sunshine but better... He wanted to bask in it forever.

Shortly afterwards, Mrs. Weasley sent them all up to bed, talking about how Harry had to return to Privet Drive early in the morning.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**The Burrow**

**Ron's Room**

**5:11 AM, July 30th, 1995**

Harry felt a hand shaking him. He awoke and saw Mrs. Weasley standing over him with a plate on a tray.

"Eat that." she whispered. "And then come downstairs. I already packed your things. Tonks and Remus will port you back to Surrey when you come down."

Harry nodded and finished off the plate of sausage and eggs. He took the dish downstairs with him and dropped it off in the sink. Tonks and Remus were waiting by his luggage for him. Everything had been stowed in that handy backpack Hermione had given him.

"Ready?" Tonks asked. Harry nodded. She handed him an old doorknob, and she held on to the other end. Remus put his hand on top and tapped the knob with his wand. Harry felt a hook behind his navel and he was soon laying face down on his Uncle's driveway.

"I'll get the hang of..." Harry trailed off. Something was wrong. Danger... he could smell it.

"Harry, what's wro-" Her question was cut off by a crackle of energy in the air.

The wards were falling apart. They were rejecting him. They no longer detected inside him that he was of the same blood as his Aunt and they were crumbling.

In the sky above the wards, he saw black robed figures on brooms. Death Eaters circling above them. The wards gave one final crackle before falling, completely inert.

Flying through the air without the aid of a broom was the Dark Lord Voldemort.

"Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort cast, his wand pointing at the three figures in the driveway.


	7. Chapter 7

**Servitude of a Peculiar Sort**

**Chapter Seven**

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Number Four Privet Drive**

**Surrey, England**

**5:48 AM, July 30th, 1995**

Remus's werewolf reflexes kicked in and he plowed into Harry and Tonks, knocking them to the ground behind Vernon's new car. The killing curse impacted harmlessly with the pavement right where Tonks had previously been. Remus and Tonks exchanged a look.

"Take him and run." Remus told Tonks.

"We'll all run, it's safer. We can't leave you." Tonks countered.

"They're on broom. They're much faster unless I hold them off." Remus retorted.

"But…" Tonks started.

"GO!" Remus commanded.

"Wait." Harry said.

"What?" Remus answered.

"This will help." Harry placed his hands on Remus's shoulders. His muscles grew instantaneously, giving him a more animalistic and deadly look.

Before Remus could respond, there was a volley of spells from the Death Eaters. Vernon's car shook with the first few impacts, the driver's door crumpled and the windshield shattered. A large gash appeared in the trunk and then the trunk was launched twenty feet in the air and set on fire. Remus let out a roar and shouted an incantation. A blast of air flew out of his wand and knocked the nearest death eater from the sky.

Harry and Tonks rounded the corner and set off towards Arabella Figg's house. Harry felt awkward running. Like his new body wasn't meant to do this and he was going to fall over if he didn't shift his weight backwards.

"Hurry it up!" Tonks commanded. There was a deafening explosion from behind them as a spell connected with the gas tank on Vernon's car. Harry toppled forward and caught himself with his hands. He now understood something he hadn't previously. His arms and hands had been warped in his transformation. Now he knew why. He was built like an animal now, not a human. He would run faster on four limbs than two.

He began to gain on Tonks and by the time they rounded the corner onto Wisteria walk he had passed her. And then he tried to stop. Blocking the way to Mrs. Figg's house was a line of death eaters. Seven of them. Waiting. Arabella Figg's mutilated corpse lay a short distance behind them. By the look of agony frozen on her face, they had tortured her first.

"Shit!" Tonks exclaimed. "Too damn many of them." She turned and started running in another direction.

A few spells shot past them and the Death Eaters ran after them. Voldemort and his initial strike force were visible in the distance and approaching from the direction of Privet Drive. Remus had bought them as much time as he could. Now they were on their own.

Tonks vaulted a chain link fence into someone's backyard, crossed the yard and climbed the fence into the next yard. Harry followed about ten feet behind her. About ten seconds later, he heard the sounds of the Death Eaters blasting the fences away. They continued to run despite the fact that the Death Eaters were gaining.

After the fifth fence he crossed, Harry was slowing. By the tenth, he felt like he was going to die.

Tonks was tiring too. Soon, Tonks' persistent clumsiness kicked in. She caught her ankle climbing down a particularly tall fence, and with a sickening CRACK she was down on the ground. She'd broken her ankle and was quite incapable of running any further.

"Keep running!" She commanded him.

Harry stopped running and went to investigate her ankle He wasn't sure if he did it out of compassion or because he was uncertain how much further he could run and didn't know where to go.

"I SAID KEEP RUNNING!" She yelled at him.

Harry felt something snap in his head. Like there was a little box that said "in case of emergency, break glass" and he smashed it.

"Shut…UP!" Harry snapped. He placed one hand on each of Tonks's shoulders and asked the wild magic pumping through his veins to cast one more spell to save them both. There was the sound of old trees creaking in the breeze and then they were gone. In their place stood a ten foot tall oak tree, barely tall enough to be seen over the fence. The sounds of explosions persisted as the Death Eaters tore down fence after fence with their spells. Ten seconds later, the Death Eaters blasted down the fence that had broken Tonks's ankle, and kept blasting down fences.

He could feel Tonks panicking. She wasn't used to being completely unable to move. Harry was vaguely afraid she would give away their position with some accidental magic. He mentally reassured her and she slowly calmed down.

"Damn it!" he heard a Death Eater swear. "This is the edge of the Apparation ward. They must have escaped."

A few seconds later, Voldemort and his mounted Death Eaters landed. He heard mumbled excuses and garbled pleading. This was followed by several screams, a flash of green light and the sound of a few dozen people apparating.

Harry waited an additional ten minutes to make sure there weren't any Death Eaters still lingering around before reversing the transformation.

"I…" Tonks started. Harry cut her off.

"Let's talk later. Once we're safe. Can you make it to the edge of the wards or do I need to carry you?" Harry asked.

"I'll be fine." Tonks cast a spell on her leg and hobbled the remaining 50 feet to the edge of the wards. With a small snap, they were both gone.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**The Burrow**

**6:31 AM, July 30th, 1995**

Harry and Tonks reappeared in the Weasley family kitchen. Tonks winced and hobbled to a chair. Harry went off to find Mrs. Weasley.

Within minutes, Mrs. Weasley had splinted Tonks's leg, and firecalled the Headmistress. Minerva, in turn called a meeting of the Order to discuss the day's events. Within an hour, Harry found himself once again before the entire Order, explaining everything. He knew he should have been feeling more emotion about Remus's death as he told his tale to the room. Yet, somehow he found no remorse. Remus sacrificed himself to buy them time for an escape. It worked. He was thankful, but not feeling guilty. If Remus hadn't acted it was likely that all three of them would have died.

Perhaps it was something the forest did that kept his emotions at bay, but he actually didn't mind it. For once he could fight with his mind without letting things like fear and grief get in the way.

Harry finished recounting the mornings events and sat back in his chair, waiting for some sort of response. The adults in the room met eyes, almost like they were speaking telepathically.

"You may go now, Mr. Potter." Professor McGonnagall dismissed him. Harry left wordlessly and found his way upstairs. Harry knocked lightly on the bathroom door. Nobody inside. He entered, shut the door and locked it. He turned the water to its coldest setting, threw off his clothes and stepped in.

'What the hell am I supposed to do now?' he thought.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**The Burrow**

**4:20 AM, August 5th, 1995**

With people up and busy at all hours of the day, Harry had taken to waking up early to continue his training sessions. While he felt tired and weak outside at night (the lack of sunlight hampered him more than he liked to believe) he still went and tried. The first night he'd tried training he hadn't been able to cast a single spell. The second night he got the idea to spend some time in the tanning bed beforehand. The energy he radiated did a fair job of counteracting the lack of sunlight. The longer he stayed in the bed before casting, the easier his casting was and the more powerful his spells were. In the interests of stealth, he'd been trying to reduce the time he needed in the bed to cast spells. He'd gotten to the point where he could spontaneously cast most of the basic spells he knew, and could cast some more complicated ones with only a small amount of concentration beforehand.

Harry was quite sure that his new magic had all but exterminated the last of his wizard magic. It was still shaping his body, honing it as if it was a weapon. It was like watching a thousand years of evolution happen every day. Every morning he would discover something new about himself. By spending every night for the last week outside, his body had started adapting itself to the new situation. He needed less rest than before because his body would conserve energy during the day, knowing he would need it during the night. His nightvision had improved considerably to the point where he could see almost as well at night as he could during the day when he was still human.

He also noticed that his body was generating dew, which it hadn't done before. Every morning his sheets would be soaked when he got up. The water in the sheets didn't feel good to him like all other water did. It was waste water. He felt the same way about sleeping in dew-soaked sheets as most humans did when sleeping in urine.

Harry had done away with sheets altogether and would generally sleep outside and come inside to his bed once he suspected people would be waking soon.

Thinking of spells to cast was still the hardest art of his training. He didn't have a guidebook to follow. He had to make up spells on the spot and then evaluate if he had the power to cast them. It was quite frustrating because he was rarely sure if a spell was beyond the scope of his abilities or if it was simply something he couldn't cast.

Without anyone to compare himself to he was quite unsure of how he was progressing. He knew he was getting stronger. He could feel his magical energy growing by the day. He suspected he was going to have one of those breakthroughs where he understood more about his powers any day now. But how long would that take? Was he progressing fast enough?

He didn't know. Harry finished the spell he'd been casting (something that made the grass grow and wrap around anything inside it, hindering the movement of anyone around.) and headed back towards the house. It was getting light and people would be awakening soon. He opened the front door and passed into the living room of the Burrow. As he walked towards the stairs something caught his eye, just peeking out from under the couch. Curious, he approached the couch and pulled the mystery item out.

It was a present, gift wrapped and left over from his birthday. It was the detergent shaped bottle from Fred and George. Harry smirked and opened the wrapping paper.

"New Zealand Organic Fish Fertilizer" the label read. This gave Harry an idea. Harry wasn't sure if it was one of the most brilliant ideas he'd ever had or one of the most stupid. Either way, he was determined to find out before the Weasleys woke up.

He was going to plant himself. Harry found his way back out into the yard. He sat about fifteen feet from the small stream that ran across the Weasley's property. With a wave of his hand, a hole about two feet across and eighteen inches deep appeared in the soil. Harry sat on the ground and removed his socks, shoes and pants. Harry shaped the soil again and diverted a small amount of stream water into the hole. Carefully, he poured some of the fish fertilizer into the hole. When there was enough water/fish mixture to cover his feet, he stopped diverting stream water into the hole and climbed in. He shaped the earth again, refilling the hole with dirt.

He stood, buried knee deep in dirt and fertilizer for a few moments before speaking. "Boy do I feel stup-" Sharp pains jolted up his legs, cutting off his speech. The pain intensified and Harry began to scream.

'Very stupid.' He thought as darkness claimed him.


End file.
